Winner Takes All
by tfm
Summary: Morgan finally finds out what “sin to win” is all about. He likes the answer. M/P.


**Title: **Winner Takes All  
**Rating: **PG**  
Fandom: **Criminal Minds  
**Universe: **Not Another Moment to Waste (Part 1)**  
Characters/Pairing:** Morgan/Prentiss  
**Genre: **Humor/Romance**  
Summary: **Morgan finally finds out what "sin to win" is all about. He likes the answer.

…

Though he had brought a book with him, Morgan's mind was divided. He had one eye on the words, occasionally managed to follow a sentence or two, but mostly, he was interested in watching Emily, just in case she decided to take pity on him and reveal all. He knew for a fact that it wasn't going to happen, and yet he still looked up every few seconds. While she was, for the most part, immersed in her own reading, a couple of time she looked up, catching his gaze and giving him an enigmatic smile, as if she knew exactly what he was doing.

After a while, though, he zoned out, the music in his ears lulling him into a daydream. By the time they landed, Emily had fallen asleep, her hand resting atop the closed book. In many ways, she herself was a closed book. "Sin to win" aside, he couldn't list a single thing she did on her days off. As with all cases that cut in on weekends, they had a couple of supplementary days, but it was too late to get anything out of the beach house rental Morgan had been looking forward too.

'So,' he asked her casually, as they loaded their bags into the SUVs that would take them back to the Bureau. 'What are your plans?'

She gave him a wide grin. 'Oh, you know. Strip club, swap meet. The usual.'

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

'Come on, Derek. You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?' She gave a protracted sigh. 'My plans involve the Sci-Fi Channel and a scandalous threesome with Ben and Jerry.'

'Well, have fun with that,' he told her, and it might have been his imagination, but she looked almost…disappointed. That was just confusing. Profiling aside, there were just some things he would never, ever understand.

'Hey Reid,' he asked, watching as Emily went off in the direction of Hotch's office to sort out something about paperwork. 'Do you know what "sin to win" is?'

Reid's answer, as expected, was long-winded, and in the end, not the most useful – he doubted Emily's – admittedly, rather smoking – red dress was for a nerd convention. In any case, the event Reid had described was held in San Diego, not Atlantic City. He could only imagine the kinds of "sins" one could get up to in the gambling capital of the East Coast. The mysterious Vegas hangover was still fresh in his mind.

'See you in two days,' he called out as Emily returned to the bullpen. While Reid gave him a cheerful wave as he packed his own messenger bag, Emily's response was a non-committal grunt. Now that was just plain weird.

His detour to Garcia's office delayed him enough that he ended up reaching the elevator just as Emily did. Her eyes widened at his presence, but she didn't make an excuse to escape. That was something. Still, the silence between them was awkward, in a way that it hadn't been for years now – not since she'd first joined the team. If he were to admit it to himself, she wasn't really comfortable with them still, but he was pretty sure she wasn't comfortable with _anyone_.

Some days that hurt more than it should have.

'Did I…' He paused, unsure of how to phrase the question. 'Did I do something wrong?' Had he gone too far, dug too deep?

Emily shook her head. 'It's nothing,' she said, her voice distant.

'Emily, if I made you feel uncomfortable…' He stopped as she turned on him, fire in her eyes.

'Oh my God, Morgan. You can't even figure out that I'm trying to_ flirt_ with you?' Her eyes widened, as though the words that came out of her mouth hadn't exactly been the ones she'd intended to say.

Morgan was kind of speechless. Of all the answers he'd been expecting, that wasn't one of them. The dress, the behavior, the language. He didn't deserve to call himself a profiler. He was a complete idiot. 'Emily, I…'

'Forget it,' she told him bluntly. 'How about we pretend that this conversation never happened? I think it'd probably be best if you forgot all the other ones too.'

He shook his head, and in a split second, his heart took over from where his brain shut down, and he stepped forward and kissed her. He stroked against her cheek as she let her hand curl around the back of his neck, pulling his head closer. Morgan's tongue darted forward hesitantly, and Emily's lips parted to allow him entrance. At that point, he didn't give a damn about the security cameras – he was caught in the moment.

Emily pulled away, her breaths coming in short, fast gulps. 'God, Derek.' It was the third time she'd used his given name that day, and the sound elicited a strange feeling inside of him. 'That was…' She smiled, the fire in her eyes still there, but it was a happy kind of fire.

'So now that we've established you were only trying to get my attention,' he said, 'Will you _please_ tell me what a "sin to win" weekend is?'

Emily gave a low laugh. 'Jealous, much? A "sin to win" weekend involves copious amounts of drinking, gambling and optional sex.'

'That's it?'

'That's it.' She leaned forward until her lips were beside his ear, and he could feel her breath hot against his cheek. 'But if you're interested, I could show you a _really_ sinful time.'

Derek Morgan did not argue.


End file.
